The next day.
When Shen Qingyuan woke up, the sun was already hanging high in the sky.
She had slept soundly, though her head still ached a little.
Beside her, Sanya was already awake, quietly playing with her fingers by herself.
This child is really well-behaved!
Shen Qingyuan stretched, got dressed, and took Sanya out of the room.
As soon as the door opened, Dabao and Erbao rushed out.
They had woken up early but didn’t dare disturb Shen Qingyuan, waiting patiently by the door.
Seeing Sanya finally emerge, they quickly pulled her aside, carefully checking her body for any injuries they might have missed in their worry.
Dabao: “Does it hurt anywhere?”
Erbao: “Were you bullied?”
Sanya shook her head.
Shen Qingyuan had no time to deal with the three little ones. After walking around the house, she found that everyone else had already gone out.
From Dabao and Erbao, she learned that the Shen family had eaten breakfast and gone about their separate tasks.
Some had gone to work in the fields, some to the county town for odd jobs, and others to wash clothes.
To survive here, Shen Qingyuan also needed to start finding ways to earn money.
After some thought, she came up with an idea.
After having a simple meal with The Three Little Ones, she said to Dabao and Erbao:
“We can’t just eat and live here for free. We need to do what we can. You two go gather firewood. I’ll go into the mountains to take a look.”
She had initially planned to leave Sanya at home, but worried that Sanya was too young to be left alone, she decided to take her along up the mountain.
“Sanya will come with me!”
Dabao and Erbao immediately went on high alert, eyeing Shen Qingyuan warily.
Shen Qingyuan quickly explained:
“Don’t overthink it. I’m just worried Sanya might be scared alone at home.”
Sanya beamed with a smile.
“Sanya wants to go up the mountain with Mother.”
Last night, Mother had not only helped her undress but also held her gently and coaxed her to sleep. She loved being with Mother.
Dabao and Erbao were about to say something more, but Shen Qingyuan cut them off.
“Let’s go then!”
Dabao and Erbao said nothing further.
However, their route for gathering firewood changed.
Guided by the original host’s memories, Shen Qingyuan took Sanya to a forest on the hillside, where the trees were laden with delicious wild fruits.
Shen Qingyuan found a dry branch and used it to beat the tree, causing the wild fruits to rain down with a clatter.
Sanya happily gathered the fallen fruits.
Soon, they had filled a basket with wild fruits.
Shen Qingyuan picked two large, round fruits, wiped them clean with the hem of her clothes, and handed one to Sanya beside her.
“Eat!”
Sanya took the fruit, her eyes crinkling into a smile.
“Thank you, Mother!”
Shen Qingyuan gently patted Sanya’s head.
“You’re welcome!”
Mother and daughter ate as they made their way down the mountain.
On the way home, they passed by a river. While picking the fruits, Shen Qingyuan’s hands had gotten dirty, so she decided to wash them.
She set the basket aside and warned Sanya:
“The riverbank is dangerous. Don’t wander off, or you might fall in. Understand?”
Sanya nodded eagerly.
“Understood, Mother!”
Shen Qingyuan went to the river to wash her hands, while Sanya stayed where she was.
Seeing many beautiful wild flowers around, Sanya couldn’t resist picking them.
As Shen Qingyuan washed her hands, she noticed Sanya happily gathering flowers and smiled slightly.
“Be careful!”
“Understood, Mother!”
Just as Shen Qingyuan finished washing her hands and stood up, she heard the system’s voice.
[System Task Issued: Host, please save Sanya!]
Shen Qingyuan was puzzled—could Sanya be in danger?
She turned to look and saw Sanya let out a cry before vanishing completely into the grass where she had been picking wildflowers.
“Sanya!”
Shen Qingyuan hurried to the spot where Sanya had disappeared and found a hole in the ground filled with water, but there was no sign of Sanya.
The next moment, she heard Sanya’s cries for help coming from the direction of the river.
“Mother! Help!”
It turned out Sanya had accidentally fallen into a water hole connected to the river.
Without a second thought, Shen Qingyuan rushed toward Sanya.
When she reached the riverbank and saw Sanya being swept away by the current, she jumped into the water without hesitation.
Fortunately, she was a strong swimmer and managed to rescue Sanya; otherwise, she would have had to watch helplessly as the child was carried away.
Carrying Sanya ashore, she held the soaking wet girl tightly as Sanya trembled uncontrollably.
“Don’t be afraid, Mother is here!”
Children are prone to illness after a scare and getting soaked, so Shen Qingyuan dared not delay for even a moment. She picked up Sanya, slung the basket over her back, and raced home.
Dabao and Erbao had been gathering firewood around Shen Qingyuan and Sanya, keeping their distance for fear of displeasing her.
Unaware of Sanya’s fall into the water, they grew instantly anxious when they saw Shen Qingyuan suddenly carrying Sanya and rushing home.
“Big brother, where is stepmother taking Sanya?”
“Hurry, let’s follow!”
The brothers, who had long worried that their stepmother might sell their sister, immediately gave chase.
But the two were too young—even with all their might, they couldn’t catch up to Shen Qingyuan and fell farther and farther behind.
Breathless and exhausted, they still didn’t dare to stop.
Finally reaching the Shen household, they spotted the basket of wild berries in the yard and concluded that their stepmother had brought their sister home. They immediately charged into Shen Qingyuan’s room.
“Let go of our sister!”
“If you want to hit or scold someone, do it to me!”
But the scene before them was nothing like what they had imagined.
Shen Qingyuan had just changed Sanya into dry clothes and was carefully drying her hair.
Seeing her brothers’ furious expressions, Sanya feared her mother would get angry and quickly explained.
“Big brother, second brother, I’m fine! I fell into the river earlier, and Mother risked her life to save me!”
Dabao and Erbao were skeptical.
Would she really be so kind?
Maybe she was the one who pushed their sister into the water!
Sensing the children’s suspicion, Shen Qingyuan ignored them.
To prevent Sanya from catching a cold, Shen Qingyuan made her a bowl of ginger water after drying her hair.
Only after repeatedly confirming that Sanya was fine did she feel somewhat relieved.
“The sun is nice outside. Dabao and Erbao, take Sanya to the yard to get some sun. If she feels unwell, let her rest in Second Uncle’s room first. I need to change my clothes.”
Only then did Dabao and Erbao notice that their stepmother was still in wet clothes and that the bandage on her head was stained with blood.
Without another word, they took Sanya’s hand and led her to the yard.
Shen Qingyuan found clean clothes to change into and re-bandaged her wound.
Just then, the System’s voice sounded.
[Congratulations, Host, for completing the task: System reward of 200 Points!]
[When Points reach a certain value, you can exchange them for corresponding items in the System Mall.]
Shen Qingyuan focused her thoughts and entered the System Space, wanting to see what items could be exchanged for Points in the System Mall.
Upon arriving at the large screen, she discovered that the System Mall was still completely empty.
It seemed that her current Points were far from sufficient, making it impossible to exchange for anything.
To obtain items from the System Mall, she would need to complete more tasks and accumulate more Points.
She casually claimed her Check-in Reward.
Surprisingly, the Check-in Reward was also Points, though not as many—only 50 Points.
That brought her total to two hundred and fifty Points!
This number…
was quite unique!
Shen Qingyuan felt a wave of exasperation wash over her!
Oh well, whatever!